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Investigative Practice Journal: When the face fits...

10 July 2008

Investigative Practice Journal, 10 July 2008 

A growing number of forces are using facial recognition technology to record images of suspects in custody. IPJ looks at their progress and the benefits the technology is having on investigations.

Recent high profile investigations have highlighted the need for police to take good quality images in custody to identify potential suspects.
West Yorkshire Police had the names of two suspects wanted in connection with a murder, but the pair had gone on the run to evade capture.

What helped convict the men was the fact that they had been in custody for previous offences in another force – and that force had good images of the men in their system.

West Yorkshire was given copies of the images to use in an identity parade, and also to verify the offenders on arrest. Witnesses were also able to verify their identity from the photographs.

Peter Burton, head of the force digital imaging unit, explained: “This is just one example that proves the importance of good quality custody images. The big issue is that the quality of images varies from force to force. Some forces still have quite archaic technology in their custody areas and are still using film and cameras.”

This method of image capture can often be time-consuming and would rely on the officer being expert at taking photographs while at the same time making sure the suspect is compliant.

Although there is a growing awareness of the benefits of the technology, there is still much work to do to introduce the custody image national standards that have been defined.

These obvious shortcomings led to the setting up of the Facial Images National Database (FIND) project by the former PITO. It was carried on by the NPIA to promote the idea of a national database that could be used by forces as a way of sharing intelligence about suspects. They have defined the required image standards.

The project closed in March due to lack of funding but there are plans to incorporate a national image database into the new version of the Police National Computer (PNC) which is being introduced in a couple of years.

Despite the current lack of national guidance, a number of forces are still moving forward with this work and have broken new ground in their use of facial imaging technology in a custody setting.

Forces such as Merseyside and City of London are just two which have over the past few years begun to regard facial imaging techniques as an important part of the police toolkit, along with DNA and forensics.

West Yorkshire has a dedicated unit made up of experts that work on the analysis and interpretation of images and on the provision of imaging packages to explain complex forensic details in court using computer generated images.

West Yorkshire Police Imaging Unit was the first in the country to develop the Video Identification Parade Electronic Recording System (VIPER) that is now used by most forces.

The process is very similar to a physical identity parade ‘line-up’, but is instead carried out electronically using a database of head-and-shoulders video pictures.

When a suspect agrees to use the VIPER system, they have a short video clip of themselves taken. This includes the head and shoulders only, and has a format identical to the recordings on the database.

When a broad description of the suspect is entered into the system, a gallery of images from the database is displayed. The suspect can then choose which of these images they want to appear with them,
and in which order.

A video of the images is then shown to potential witnesses in controlled conditions to see if they recognise a person they saw on a previous occasion.

West Yorkshire is now looking at taking this work a step further by linking video technology with other identification systems such as facial recognition and digital fingerprints.

Merseyside Police was one of the first forces to trial a unique method of capturing images in custody using facial recognition technology. It began trialling the facial recognition software called AFIT.QA™ manufactured by OmniPerception in one of its custody centres at the Wirral last year.

The software is incorporated into a Digital Image Booth (DIB) manufactured by the DW Group Ltd – which looks similar to a photographic booth found in post offices to take passport photographs.

When offenders are brought into custody, they sit in the booth and their photograph is taken in seconds. The image can be checked against an existing database and is then stored with relevant data attachments such as name, date of birth and other personal details.

It takes good quality images of suspects in seconds, which not only improves the accuracy of the intelligence but also saves officer time.

Merseyside trialled the technology for eight weeks, during which it took 500 custody images. In order to meet the minimum requirements for a FIND-standard image the measurements had to achieve 70 per cent success. The results showed a capture rate of 83 per cent and 94 per cent success after two or less attempts.

Simon Furnival, project manager for the DIB pilot at Merseyside Police, said the force found that the DIB captured high quality FIND-compliant images; no additional work is required to integrate with current force systems; there is a simple traffic light system for success or failure of a captured image; and there are minimal environmental requirements.
And it is virtually unbreakable.

This is just one aspect of the force’s 'Total Technology' approach to crime-fighting in which it prides itself in championing the latest technology. It showcases this technology at its technology days that are held annually.

Merseyside was due to showcase how it is using the technology at the ACPO conference to provide help and guidance to other forces that are looking to implement similar systems. West Yorkshire is currently conducting a review of all of its custody areas and is looking to streamline the taking of custody photographs.

City of London Police was also one of the first forces to install the solution in its custody suites in Snowhill and Bishopgate as part of a programme to improve the way the force runs its custody suites.

Speaking recently, DCI Jeffery Alpe, who was head of scientific support at City of London Police when the booths were installed, said: “This fast accurate measurement gives us great confidence in the system and provides us with superb quality images for ID and verification purposes.

“In the past the quality of images varied according to the person who was taking the photograph so the actual success rate wasn’t that good,” he said.

“We hope with the new system that the error rate will be low. It’s vitally important that we can capture quality images in order to allow us match them up to CCTV stills.”

Merseyside Police has also developed its capability to capture good quality images even further by using OmniPerception’s Colossus™ software, which allows officers to use a 'target image' from CCTV and other visual sources to determine if the suspect is already known to police.

Colossus™ is a facial biometric search engine that allows officers to search a target or suspect face and match it against a database in less than three seconds. It can conduct ID search based on criteria including gender, ethnic group and age range.

It can be used for searches on police databases, at regional, national and international level; as well as for national passport, driving licence and identity card applications.

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West Yorkshire will be one of the first forces to post CCTV images of possible suspects on the Internet and encourage the public to come forward help verify their identity.

The new initiative is due to go live in September and the force hopes the public will log on and come forward with their suggestions about the identity of the suspects posted on the site.

Mr Burton said the force thought carefully about the legal implications of the project and was happy that it satisfied all relevant requirements.

The force has had hundreds of images identified by its own officers after introducing a ‘caught-on-camera’ intranet site two years ago.

“We are hoping that we will see similar success with this scheme and also hope that it will help us engage with local communities and detect more crimes.”